


Mermaids and Winter Nights

by TiffanyC1



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: F/M, Gen Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-19
Updated: 2016-06-19
Packaged: 2018-07-15 22:35:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7241536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TiffanyC1/pseuds/TiffanyC1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He would always talk about Nevis and St. Croix in the winter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mermaids and Winter Nights

**Author's Note:**

> First Hamilton fic, based on the thought of how Hamilton, who was born and raised in a very warm area, would deal with the cold of New York.

Alexander almost never spoke of his life before he came to New York. It used to bother Eliza; she so wanted to know about her husband’s childhood, but Alexander almost never spoke about it. What she had gleaned from the little he did say, and what she’d heard from gossip, was that his parents were never married, his father had deserted the family, his mother had died of the same fever that he suffered from every summer, and he’d been saved from a life of privations by a kind clergyman and the wealthy men of St. Croix. It was a bleak and mostly blank picture that Eliza always hoped she’d be able to complete one day.

The times she could get him to talk about where he’d come from was in the winter. Being from the West Indies, Alexander had grown up in year round warmth and could never quite acclimate himself to the harsh winters of the northern states. On cold winter nights, she could almost always get him to amuse her and the children with stories about St. Croix and Nevis.

Tonight, Angelica, whom Alexander could never deny, was the one to ask. 

“Papa? Could you tell us about the West Indies?”

Alexander looked up from the book he was reading, “Again? Don’t you children ever get tired of those old stories?” Though his tone was stern, Eliza could see the smile tugging at his mouth and settled into her seat to hear the old stories. Angelica and the rest of the children gathered around, young faces eager to hear of the far off land their great father had come from.

“The first thing you need to know is that it is always warm in the Indies,” Alexander said, a very faint tone of longing in his voice. “It never snows, plants and flowers grow all year round. It’s sunny almost every day. The sand on the shore is as white as snow, but never as cold. The water is so clear and beautiful, that you can go out on a ship for miles and still see the bottom of the ocean.” 

“Tell us about the mermaids, Father,” Phillip piped up, eyes wide.

Alexander smiled fully now. “As you know, mermaids are beautiful creatures that live in the sea and lagoons. They have the body of a woman and the tail of a fish. Every night, they gather in the lagoons, you can see the lights from their lanterns for miles.”

Eliza listened to the stories with amusement. It always astonished her that her always serious husband had such a vivid imagination. Mermaids! Even knowing that such a creature couldn’t possibly exist in nature, she found herself almost believing that not only did such a creature exist, but that Alexander had seen them.

Later that night, after the children had been put to bed, she lay next to Alexander and thought about his tales of Nevis and St. Croix. She’d heard the longing, however faint, in his voice. Perhaps one day, after his service to America was over, they could find a way to go to Nevis and St. Croix. Let the great men of the island know that the money they’d put up to help Alexander get his education had been money well spent.

Perhaps they’d even see one of those mermaids.

The End


End file.
